So, the first half of our week was pretty slow, and I was getting a little bit discouraged.
Although on Tuesday, we met with a lady who has been investigating the church for over a year. She and her husband didn't want any missionary lessons and they just wanted to investigate on their own. So we had lunch with her on Tuesday to get to know her, and afterwards we started talking about religion, etc. I ended up telling her that I think she'd get the most out of starting from the beginning of the missionary lessons and going all the way through them, so she said she was up for it. Then we met with her again on Friday. We went on a walk with her and her two little girls to feed the goats, then went back to her house and started to teach her lesson 1. Towards the end, her little girls came out of their room, so Sister Redford started painting with them while I finished up the lesson. During the lesson I had recited the first vision to her, and Sister Redford said that it was really good and powerful, so that made me happy. Then at the end, I just looked into her eyes and bore my testimony really powerfully, then closed in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Then I asked her, "Jen, will you commit to prepare to be baptized on May 26th?" And she said, "Yes." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SO happy, and SOOOO thankful! All day, I was just on a high and couldn't stop smiling! It was just the best thing ever! Anyway, she said that she's pretty sure that her husband will want to be baptized the same day as her, so I'm hoping we get a chance to meet with him this week!
On Thursday we met with Sue Kelly and Jerry again. (Sue is the one that was praying for us, and she's already a member). When we came in, Sue told us that she gave the Book of Mormon to Jerry just like I told her to and that he wants to hear what we have to say. ;) We watched The Testament with him, and afterwards he told us that he read a few pages of the Book of Mormon and that he would like to learn more. He just seemed so prepared, and I'm so thankful that we were led to him! We are meeting with him again tomorrow! :)
Also on Friday evening we met with Ellen again. (She's the 11-year-old from Ghana). We watched The Restoration dvd with her, and we asked her if her parents say it's ok if she would like to get baptized, and she said, "Can you get baptized when you're 11?" and we told her that you can. She said, "Yeah, I've always wanted to be." So, we are praying that her parents' hearts will be softened and that they will allow her to be baptized!
Then on Saturday night, we had just gotten home and were studying when the Spanish-speaking elders knocked on our door. They told us that they had just met some very prepared people and that they needed an English Book of Mormon and they told them that we would come meet them. So, we got our skirts back on and walked over there. It was a family with a mom and two daughters (13 and 19). They all speak English perfectly, plus they're all females, so they referred them to us. Anyway, they had taught them the first lesson right before they came to get us. The mom told us that she had already started to read the Book of Mormon! We gave English copies to each of the girls and they seemed happy about that. We also asked them if they wanted to come to church with us the next day and they said yes! The 13-year-old was very enthusiastic and said that she wants to talk to God just like Joseph Smith did ;) She asked her mom if she would take her to church or to the woods ;) haha Anyway, we walked into church the next morning and they were sitting there on the back row! It was really great and the mom was crying the entire time! (This is the only time when I'm happy to see someone crying)! But we asked her when we could meet with them and she told us that Thursday is her day off! It was just amazing!
Also, something kinda crazy happened later Saturday night after we had gotten back home and were getting ready for bed. There was a knock on the door and we thought that maybe it was the elders again, but when Sister Redford opened the door, I heard a man with a heavy accent speaking, so I went over to the door too. He told us that he is from Russia, his name is Alexei, and he was asking us if we would pray with him. He saw the picture of Jesus on our door, so he knocked. He said his heart was broken and that his wife had told him something like that he wasn't good for her. So anyway, we prayed with him and he told us thank you so much and that he felt much better now. I guess he lives above us in our apartments. So anyway, that was pretty cool.
We had a lot of wonderful experiences this weekend, and I'm so thankful for Heavenly Father answering our prayers! Also, two different people came up to us at church and told us that they had brought someone with them who wasn't a member! So, they're starting to trust us and do their part, and it just makes us so happy! :)
Prayer and faith pays off! Heavenly Father is listening and knows what is best, and even if it takes a little longer than we want...we have to follow His will and have faith that it will always be better than what we can even imagine.
Thank you everyone for all your prayers and your support! They mean the world to me! I love you and miss you!
Love, Sister Stanley
Washington Everett Mission
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